Method of making hollow plastic articles



Jan6,1953 QDELAcosTE. ETAI.

METHOD OF' MAKING HOLLOW PLASTIC ARTICLES Filed Jan. 20, 1951 I I I I I I I A ow/f4,@wmww22%,56h/ NSMRW wtf IIIIIIIIIII I III LI HN, |I1I1I iJII=IzI=|mTI I .JII I IW .M ,f IIIIIIIIIII HH, 1/ lull IIIIIIIIIII 54 ./H NCN l 1 I I IIIII II ,f EAP. IIIIIIIIIII 7, .,-f VHO ||II|IIII|I ,x -,A l m06 IIIIIIIIII A .4 |||II|II||I| 7, .1% is I I I I I I I I I I I I Uv III I I I I I I I I h -Hx uw man1 47m IIIIIH H Ih HIIIIIIIII U f I I I l I I I I I I I I I I I I u IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII III III //w// I I I I I I l I II /IIIIIIIIIIIII ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 6, 1953 METHOD 0F MAKING HOLLOW PLASTIC ARTICLES Claude Delacoste, Paris, and Yves ornic,

Asnieres., France, assignors, by mesne assignments, to 'Vini-Cast, Inc., Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application ,Januaryv20, 1951, Serial No. 207,022

(Cl. 12S-58.3)

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to -a ,method o fmaking `hollow articles of Isubstantially uniform wall .thickness .out of plasticized heat settingresins,

Certain .resins of the general class comprising the polymers andthe copolymers of vinyl Ychloride, vinyl acetate, and similar materials, when "suitably plasticized and `set or cured by heat,

form a tough, durable material which may be relatively rigid -or ilexible and elastic, depend.- ing upon the formulation, In the productQn .of articles from such material, the heating thereof `for .curing or setting the resin Lmust 4be .Cairefully controlled. Thus, ,if the mold heated before the `resinmixture has completely coated .the mold surfaces, irregular `l`gelling of ,the resin, with .resultant non-,uniformity of wall thickness of the article, results. Further, care must be taken -to both avoid heat discoloration or ,degrading of vthe resin material due to over-curing and incomplete 4or ,impermanent setting.

v'The present invention has for its object an mproved method ,for producing hollow articles .of substantially Auniform Wall thickness from plasticized thermosetting ,resins in a rapid and economical manner and without underor overcuring the resinmaterial.

'In theaccompanying drawing, the single figure representsin a diagrammatic and s'irnp'liiiedinanner vone form of Vapparatus lthat may l.be l.used ,in carrying lout the Vmethod of the invention.

' The material used to form the hollow articles initliemethod of th'einvention comprises generally fa heat setting resin which jis finitially plasticize'd "to ;a -'freely jowable state having a consistencynot'substantially more viscous than that of-thicktablescream. "This material, when at or belowfroom-temperature, tends to adhere to the inner :walls ,of `the mold employed. When heated to ,a fmoderate'temperature vof say 110 F. Vto about 212 `F.,v.the .materal .congeals orgels but does not r completelyor vpermanently set or cure, for which purpose a higher temperature, generallyabove about,350 Emis required. The material preferably comprises a polymer vor copolymer of a vinyl resin s uch as vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride, vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride, copolymers of vinyl chloride with vinyl acetategand the like, to which has been add ed asuita'ble 'plasticizen such as vtricresyl phosphate, -dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, or the like. yThere 4may also be used monomers or mixtures o'f'monomers ofthe resins indicated togetherfwith'a polymerization catalyst and a plasticizer of "the-type indicated. One Vsatisfactory material jis apolyvinyl chloride resin. "One such resin Amanufactured by l'thelt Goodrich Chemical Company and sold -under the trade name and designation Geon Paste Resin 121,? to which is added a plasticizer of the type ,indie cated in an amount sufficient to produce lthe consistency described.

Measured quantities of the. fluid resin mixture suicient to complete the desired article are placed in hollow molds preferably formed of metal and having relatively thin walls to expel dite the transfer of heat to and from the Iesin material. The filled molds are closed and `are subjected to compound motion at room tempera# ture (below about 95 F.) so as to distribute a part of the fluid resin uniformly in the form of a coating which adheres to the interior Wall of the mold at all points thereof. The .compound motion may be imparted to lthe mold in various ways, as by swinging or rotating it in a manner to obtain a "sloshing of the uid Vmaterial,about the interior thereof. The compound motion may be conveniently accomplished b y subjecting ,the molds to compound rotary motion as 4by vslowly rotating the molds simultaneously `about two ailgularly disposed axes, which carries the fluid ma` terial repeatedly and uniformly by gravity over the entire interior surfaces of 'the mold." first forming step is carried out at a temperature below that vat which oongealing or lgellingof the resin mixture takes place and generall'yva room temperature of about 'between 60'and9591".

is VJsuitable. vlit Adoes not distribute all of the'. fluid material, but only a portion thereof whichV clings to-or wets the walls of the-mold. L

After the low temperature Afluid distribution step has continued until the mold walls are com?l pletely wetted or coated with ari-adhering layer of the resin mixture, a gelling or congealing step' motion of the mold distributes the `remaining fluid .mixture Y uniformly yand repeatedly .over the innermold-'walL and 'produces a .gelled or congealed layer of substantially uniform thicknessy on the inside of the mold. The initialcold distribution step avoids the non-uniform Q Ongea'l-ingl of the resin mixture and particularlyA the congeab' ing of a portion of the mixture at areas where-ite first contacts the mold Walls when introduced. The congealing step is continued until all of the fluid resin is `gelled or congealed on the ,mold

wall.

At the end of the congealing step, the articles are fully formed and the compound motion of the mold may then be discontinued during the ensuing steps. In the curing step which follows, the metal molds are uniformly heated to and held at a curing temperature by submerging them in a heated bath of a suitable liquid for a time interval. By curing the material in this manner, the resin is rapidly heated to and held at but not above the desired curing temperature, and overor under-curing is readily avoided. The liquid employed forl the heated bath may comprise a suitable oil or glycerin but it is preferred to employ a wax, such as paraflin, whic is liquid at the curing temperature but solidies when cooled to or below room temperature. The use of such a wax for this purpose avoids soiling the formed hollow articles by contact with the bath material when th-e articles are subsequently removed from the molds. If a bath material that does. notsolidify on cooling is employed, it is unavoidably transferred by the hands ofthe operators or otherwise to the finished articles. The temperature of the curing bath may effectively be from about 320 F. to 400 F. The time during which the molds are submerged in the bath is sufhcient to completely set the resin mixture and this may -be readily determined by test. Because the hot bath quickly and uniformly heats the molds and their contents to or near the bath temperature, relatively low bath temperatures, near theminimum temperatures eifective for a complete setting of the resin, can be used, and the time of immersion in the bath can be extended beyond that necessary to complete the curing without over-curing and so discoloring or degrading the product.

At the conclusion of the curing step, the molds are withdrawn from the heated bath and submerged in a cooling bath of fluid such as water at a temperature generally below room temperature. The molds are cooled in this bath for a suicient interval to bring the articles and the molds to well below 250 F. and preferably to a temperature at which they can be handled. The molds are then withdrawn from the cooling bath and opened and the iinished articles are removed therefrom.

Many forms of apparatus may be used to carry out the method. AS diagrammatically illustrated in the drawing, the molds, here shown as spherical metal molds M for making hollow balls, comprise separable semi-cylindrical mold halves I and 2 and for convenience a plurality of corresponding mold halves may be secured to each ci a pair of plates 3 and 4 which can be releasably held together to close the molds by a central bolt 5 having a-ange 8 at one end secured to the plate-4 and a nut 'l at the other bearing against the outer surface of the plates 3. A ring nut 8 may be threaded to the outer end of the bolt 5 for lifting the set of molds. y For providing compound motion, a plurality of the described sets of molds may be removably secured respectively to radial arms 9 rotatably secured to a horizontal shaft It that may be' rotated by'any suitable means. A bevel gear II on each radial arm 9 engages a stationary bevel gear I2 and -so rotates the arms 9 about their axes as the shaft Ii) is rotated about its axis, thus imparting to the molds M compound rotary motion about two angularly disposed axes.V

The several sets of molds maybe removably secured to the respective radial arms 9 by any` suitable means, such as bolts I4.

,7 tion is not objectionable.

A housing I5 having a removable cover I5 surrounds the compound motion apparatus and steam or other heated iluid for providing the congealing heat may be circulated within this housing between the valve controlled pipe connections I1 and I8. The initial cold distribution step may be carried out with no steam or other heating fluid in the housing, and then the steam may be turned on to carry out the congealing step, the compound motion of the molds continuing throughout both steps.

A curing tank 25 adjacent the described apparatus is lled with a heated iluid 2l, preferably paraflin, which is held at the curing temperature by suitable means, such as an electric heating unit 22 controlled by a thermostat 22. The tank 20 may lbe insulated. A plurality of sets of molds may lbe lowered into the tank 2G by suitable means, such as an overhead crane 23, which as illustrated may extend over the compound motion apparatus and the cooling tank 24 as well as the curing tank 20. f

After the curing step, the sets of molds are lifted out of the tank 2t and lowered into la cooling bath in the tank 2t through which water 25 may be circulated between valve controlled inlet and outlet pipes 2G and 2l. After cooling, the molds may be removed from the tank 2li by the crane 23 and opened to remove the finished articles, after lwhich the molds are returned for refilling.

As an example of the method, the molds M may Vbe supplied with suitable charges of fluid plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin, and subjected to compound motion at or about room temperature until the interior mold walls are completely wetted with the fiuid mixture. A time of one to three minutes :is usually suiicie'nt for this purpose, although a longer time or cold distribu- Steam at a temperature of from about 190 to 212o F. is then circulated around the molds while the compound motionl thereof continues until the resin mixture lis compietely gelled or congealed in layers on the mold walls. may be accomplished in seven minutes or less, and the minimum time at any given steam temperature may .be readily determined by test. 'lheheat curing step may ybe carried out -in a paraiin bath maintained F. for about seven minutes, which produces a complete cure of the identified resin without scorching, v discoloration or degrading. The minimum time required to cure. each particular resin for resin mixture at any given curing ltem-V In a method of producing a. hollow plastic. article, the steps which comprise subjecting to'v compound motion a closed non-porous mold naving an initial temperature niet substantially ei:-4

and containing a fluid mixture o-I" a thermolsetting vinyl chloride resin and af piasticizer until the mold walls are completely; wetted with .the mixture and increasing the temperature of the mold to between about 119 F -I ceeding and 212 F. while continuing such compound at aboutl 350e..

water and the,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

` UNITED STATES PATENTS Number l0 Number Name Date Fauerbach Dec. 9, 1930 v AGonda Mar. 26, 1935 Katy Apr. 23, 1935 'Trobridge Mar. 31, 1936 :Glewell Dec. 9, 19x41 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Feb. 7, 1939 

